Hatchling
by Shabon Flurry
Summary: After countless battles against evil, Sosuke Esumi prepares himself for a challenge greater than anything he ever faced: fatherhood.


That was it. After what seemed to be an eternity of expectation and preparation, Esumi Sosuke would finally become a father, and there was no way he would miss an occasion this important. Thus, after getting a call from Hiroto telling him that 'the baby is on the way', Sosuke rushed to the hospital as fast as he could, hoping to be there for his beloved Miu and the child that had been growing inside of her for the past nine months. Finally, he arrived at the door of the hospital room where he was told that his wife and brother-in-law were in.

Exhausted from all the running, Sosuke sat down on the floor and laid his back against the wall; from there, he could hear everything that was going on inside the room, from Miu's anguished moans to the nurse's gentle voice trying to calm her down and guiding her through the procedure. "It's okay, Sosuke. You can be a good dad." he muttered to himself, "You _will_ be a good dad. The best dad you can be. Just remember everything you've been told up until now, and it won't be that hard."

Breathing heavily, Sosuke kept listening to the sounds coming from inside the room, hoping that, at the end of the day, Miu and the child were both safe and sound. Although he was able to get his lucky coin out and flip it, as his hands were shaking, it landed between his legs, with the heads up. With his vision blurred, Sosuke took a passing glance at the coin before resting his head on the wall.

And then, finally, he heard a cry. A baby's cry. _His_ baby's cry.

Sosuke, overjoyed, was unable to hold back the tears. He raised his hand and pinched it, just to check if it wasn't a dream – the brief but sharp pain was enough to confirm that it was all very much real. In fact, he was so lost in his sheer happiness that he almost didn't notice one of the nurses walking out of the room and giving him a weird look. "…Mr. Esumi?"

Just as he heard the nurse's voice, Sosuke snapped back into reality, stuffed his coin back in his pants' pocket and stood up, still teary-eyed. "Your wife and the child are both fine." the nurse told him kindly, "You are allowed to see them now."

Sosuke only nodded rapidly in response and entered the room, approaching his wife and brother-in-law right away as he did so. Laying on the room's bed, Miu had her hair disheveled and her skin covered in sweat, and was, too, breathing heavily from the hard work of giving birth, but sported a smile of relief. Hiroto, clad in scrubs, was beside the bed, leaning against the wall as he smiled warmly at his sister.

The nurse soon approached the three, holding a small bundle in her arms and handing it to Sosuke, allowing him to have the very first glimpse of his child. It wasn't exactly the most pleasing sight, what with it being covered in blood and still crying, but to him, it was beautiful, and it only made him all the happier. "Hi there… It's your dad…" he said softly, as the baby slowly stopped crying, "Retsutaka…"

Miu and Hiroto then exchanged a brief glance before turning back to him. "Sosuke?" Miu called him.

"Yeah?"

"…It's a girl."

In response, Sosuke, although still shedding tears, let out a nervous chuckle. Throughout the entire nine months of Miu's pregnancy, they only wanted to find out the child's gender when it was actually born, but Sosuke was absolutely sure that it would be a boy. Seeing that his plans of naming the kid after Retsutaka went down the toilet, he looked around for a while, trying to think of a good name for his newborn daughter. It was then that he caught sight of something. Through the window, he could see a tree, on which was a nest, in which was a mother skylark incubating her eggs, which quickly began to hatch, letting the chicks poke their heads out. He didn't have to think any further after that.

"Hibari."

Upon hearing that, Miu and Hiroto gave him confused looks. "Her name… will be Hibari." Sosuke repeated.

Miu, thoughtful, whispered the name as she directed her gaze to Hiroto. After a second or two, Hiroto gave his little sister a smile of encouragement. "It's perfect."

Smiling as well, Miu turned to her husband as he gave her the bundle so she could take a look at her just-christened daughter, as Sosuke, whose waterworks had already ceased, went to the other side of the bed and lowered himself so he would be at Miu's level. "Look at her. Look at her, Miu." he told his wife softly, with a hint of joy, "She's just so _beautiful_. Just as much as you."

"Then again, it is kind of expected…" Hiroto added, patting his sister's head.

Miu then let out a soft chuckle of embarrassment, before she and Sosuke directed their gaze to Hibari, as she gently caressed the newborn's face. "Welcome, our hatchling. Our little Hibari…" Sosuke whispered to his daughter, the sheer fatherly love evident in his voice.

Breathing heavily one more time, Sosuke stood up and grabbed his Go-Phone, dialing a certain number so he could inform the rest of the Go-Ongers about the birth of his daughter - and he knew _just_ the person to start with.

"Renn, you're a grandma now."


End file.
